20 reviews for Hope Community Church

Hope Community Church is a bible based church with a lead pastor who is humble, kind and loves Jesus! My husband and I, along with our two children, have attended Hope Community Church regularly for seven years!

Hope has taken me from being just a believer, to being an all in follower of Jesus Christ! Our whole lives have changed from being a worldly family, focusing of what culture says, to being a family who loves Jesus, follows Jesus and understands His Word.

Whether you are a believer or a non-believer and looking for a church, I would encourage you to give Hope a try. There are many types of churches and many ways to worship. One size does not fit all, and that is okay. God may want you in another church.

No matter what church you go to, please understand that God is perfect. Humans, however, are not perfect. You will find imperfect people and leaders in every church you go to. We humans cannot stop sinning even when we try to "be good.". Thankfully, that is why we have Jesus.

Lastly, allow me to speak to homosexuality. Is your sin worse than that of a heterosexual? No, it is not. Jesus is for you too, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise!

No, Hope Community is not using carnal means. Hope is using strategies which are RELEVANT to the society we live in. What this reviewer isn't say is is that people are tired of being "accosted" about their sinful state by "well meaning" Christians. Let's not let people think of us a jerks because of our judgmental attitudes, but instead let's focus on all Christ has done and continues to do in our hearts. I love the mission of Hope: love people WHERE they ARE, and help them grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ.

Hope uses carnal means to draw in carnal people. After the carnal people become regular attendees, the pastor continues to cater to the carnal people by using carnal means, and unfortunately, the small group of people that want to know about Jesus Christ are not fed.

It is ALL about money! The pastor wants to keep the money coming in, so you get "warm and fuzzy" presentations to keep the carnal attendance up.

Preach a few sermons about sin and trying to lead a holy life through Christ and watch the attendance drop significantly.

I attended this church for many years and eventually ended up at Hope Holly Springs. My experience with the main campus was phenomenal. I think Mike Lee is a gifted speaker and for me he tended to always hit the mark with his sermons. I agree with some of the previous posts that some of the spending seems to be excessive, going to finance lavish lifestyles and "retreats", but my issues didn't really arise until I started attending Holly Springs. Talk about a cliquey disaster. It felt like high school all over again. If you don't fit the mold than you are not really welcome. It's as if they have a list of approved types of sinners and if you fall outside of those guidelines than you are not accepted. The greeters are rude, the pastor seems to run a boys club with no interest in the people that attend his church and the church just seems like a giant contradiction. They claim to love people where they're at in their walk of life or walk with Christ, but they seem to only love you if you're there on their terms. They focus all of their energy on helping people outside of their church and have no desire to help the people within the church who are struggling. It was a horrible experience and I have no desire to ever attend any branch of this church again.

This is to MacLove, why don't you come back to the 821 Buck Jones Rd location again? I'm very saddened to hear about your Hope Holly Springs experience, BUT Pastor Mike is still at the Cary / Raleigh location! Please remember to give God the glory, through the worship of His son, Jesus Christ! Satisfied in Christ, Dave Baack.

Did you ever stop to think that this may be something that you should point out to the church instead of here, where it might not be seen? I don't mean it to be rude at all, I say that only because years ago I left a church for the same reasons and I had a lot of animosity afterwards towards churches, but then i remembered that churches are run by people, not God directly, and we make mistakes and sometimes we need to have things pointed out to us to see changes happen. Maybe this is God telling you that you can affect change in this church, maybe it's an opportunity to serve in this capacity. Just like America is so quick to help other nations but are so hesitant to help people in need here, our churches can be the same - we forget that our members need support as well. good luck and I hope that you find a place that you find the fellowship you are looking for.

My husband and I have been attending a church in Cary for 9 years. About a year ago we took a step back and visited other churches. We had a baby in January and haven't been attending any where. My friend invited me to Hope because the Pastor had just returned from a mission trip. We had the option of not putting our baby in the nursery and going to sit in the chapel. There were other couples with their babies in the chapel. I am thankful for the close parking space given to me as a visitor as well as the preparedness for new comers. Everyone was so nice, helpful and friendly. Our older child went into the children's service and loved it. The music was powerful, the pastor was honest, down to earth and made the story of Joshua alive. What a wonderful experience!

Listen to me! The time is growing near - Christians dig deeper into your Bible. Pray and meditate on God's word.

Honestly, get in touch with God, think about Him returning and walking into your church, looking at all of the money that is being spent, how it is being spent. Would Jesus say "well done, good and faithful servant?"

Watch this video please and you will understand why I previously referred to Hope as a "worldly church."

Hello All,
My name is Cylest & I attend Hope Community Church along with my husband. We were invited out over 2 years ago by some friends & we haven't been anywhere else since. Although it is a large church, don't let that intimidate you. The small groups and bible studies are great places for creating new friends. My husband and I both Love the music & the messages Pastor Mike puts out- they are always very applicable for your daily life....especially if you are striving to be a better person! ( Hopefully we all are! ) They make you think & let's admit it that's a good thing. :) I hope you find you'll love it here, but if not, don't fret I'm sure God has a church picked out just for you!

Bigger does not necessarily mean better. Please do not get me wrong; it does not mean it's worse, either. This church didn't start out that way. It went from a small congregation to a conglomeration. It tooks years of growth to get it where it is today.
No worries. You will get out of it what you put in. Church can be a great vehicle for your spiritual journey, but the buck does not stop there.
Please consider attending an introduction to this church via a free class available to all:
http://www.gethope.net/class/discovery
You will have an opportuity to see if this venue is "right" for you.
In additon to that, there is plently of information available on the website including their Mission: "Love people where they are and encourage them to grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ."

Sounds pretty basic, no?

http://www.gethope.net/mission-and-beliefs

The choice is ultimately up to you. If you do no like this church, you have every right to not attend. If you do, it will welcome you as you are.

Yes, there are lots of employees, regular attendees, partnerships with local and global giving, children's facilities, classes, groups, volunteers, services, etc.
In fact, there are SO many that I find it hard to believe all of them could be jaded about it for almost two decades.

Please give it a try and find out for yourself. If you'd like, all members are welcome to attend any annual budget meeting. I do find that there is sufficient information ahead of time for anyone attending. This includes times of services, parking, FAQs that cover a lot of the fundamentals, staff bios, history, etc. There are also videos of current and past messages as well as entire songs for you to check out prior:
http://www.gethope.net/current-series
http://www.gethope.net/past-messages
http://www.gethope.net/music

I'd recommend "God in a Box" for starters.

If someone out there is seeking a place for their journey and needs encouragement, please take this as a personal invitation to attend a service and make the choice yourself. I did.

Honestly, Hope Community "Church" is a social/fun club. It is a very big social gathering, and that is great if that is what people want. HCC isn't a church of Jesus Christ, however. It is a business, not a Church. The ministries are little business, to benefit the staff. The audience is there to buy the products and support the businesses, and keep the huge staff with a job. Capitalism is about selling a product, so no problem-o. As long as people don't really think that God cares their "good works". The green movement is as Godly as Local and Global Hope. As long as people know what they are getting involved with, no problem-o. It is when people think they are going to be treated kindly, by people of God and treated as part of a family, that the problems start at Hope. At Hope, there are two kinds of people. 1) the staff and, 2) the audience. When everyone stays in their group, things run smoothly. Otherwise, it is lots of stress and drama. People are just as likely to find God at Hope of Raleigh, as they are to find God at a Disney Cruise.

Asan out of town visitor for over a month, all I know is they are not passing the offering plate every service...in fact not at all !! It's refreshing to see a church that has faith and believes God for it's finances. This is startling to me in this atmosphere of Christian churches and "ministries" always asking for money. Also impressed how much they do for poor and downtrodden. Seems pretty biblical to me.
I'd rate 5 stars but haven't been there enough! The critics and the Pharisees will always be there as they were in Jesus' time.

I have been a Christian for many years and I have been to independent fundamental churches, non-denominational contemporary churches, southern baptist churches, Methodist churches and Hope Community Church.

My wife and I are new to the area and have visited Hope about 5 or 6 times.

I have never gone on line and expressed an opinion about a church, but I felt compelled to express my opinion publicly about this church.

I believe when you position your church to appeal to the current world, you lose your focus on God and your message (as an affect of the worldly adaptation) is watered down.

*Tattoos and Cigars, not to mention the "acceptance" of homosexuals, and what seemed to us to be the glorification of miscegenation *

Not saying that smoking cigars or having tattoos will send you to hell. I am saying that it is irreverent to flaunt the smoking of cigars and having your body tatted up while proclaiming that you are preaching the Gospel.

I am stating what the Bible says; that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.

We shouldn't defile our body by inhaling smoke and permanently changing the appearance of our body with body art.

WORLDLY!

Are people going to misunderstand my post? Yep, it will be someone like a previous poster that said "I have tattoos, does that make me a bad person?" Ridiculous comment!

The reference to tattoos is about how the tattoos of Mike Lee and the associate pastor want to flaunt them as they speak.

WORLDLY!

Will you all stand proud when Christ returns for his Bride?

Will you?

As for my wife, myself and two co-workers, we won't be back.

Hope Community Church: God's Word, sugar-coated by the tongue of today's worldly man.

We feel the same way, this people only think about money and appearance. I wrote an email to the pastor talking something that happened there and he never answer to me. Poor people, I feel sorry for them.

Anyone that has been around this group for any length of time can see that the money does flow in - AND STAYS THERE. This link will take you to the 2012 budget (http://www.gethope.net/church-finances) which shows they will bring in $9.5M and spend $8.7M on themselves. 54% or a crisp $5.1M goes directly to pay the staff. Chew on that for a minute...5 MILLION DOLLARS of the donations people give go to the salaries and benefits of Mike Lee's staff! Not that they would ever make it public, but I'd bet Mike and Laura Lee are stashing back a fair chunk of change, not to mention they also travel on the congregations dime. I'd bet Mike charges his vehicle lease to Hope CC too but that's just a bet. And how about his personal body guard? When was the last time you heard of a local Pastor that has (or even needed) his own personal body guard?? Dave Patchin (Mike's right hand crony) is another one that's knocking back some cash. What a little "yes man" toad that guy is. Anyway, it's a racket folks; pure and simple. They'll tell you how much the are doing for the local and global community but the reality is they are pocketing way more for themselves than they ever give away. Go to the link above if you want to call BS on me. It's their budget, not mine.

Ummm, if they post the budget on the website, which you kindly provided the link for, doesn't that at least attest to the church's transparency? What you call 'spending on themselves" is actually operating expenses (mortgage, utlities,etc) and a church with almost 7000 members and 3 campuses to support, there is a LOT of operating expenses and employees support.A church's employee compensation budget should average between 40% and 55% depending on size and current and future growth of the church.(e.g. a growing church will probably be at the top of the scale, whereas a stagnant church can afford to stay on the low end). Hope is certainly large and no doubt growing and as with any business-non or for profit- a church must stay ahead of it's growth 'curve, otherwise it will outgrow it's resources and not be able to serve it's purpose .

From your post, it's obvious your problem with Hope is more personal than it is with it's transparent budget. That's fine, but readers who want a review of a house of worship should be spared your subjective, personal attacks on the staff and somewhat ignorant opinion of it's finances.

As for why Pastor Lee has a security guard? I don't know, but there is probably a good reason. Why not ask him yourself?

Hope is NOT for everyone, but everything that I've experienced there has been a blessing to me and obviously thousands of others.I encourage people to try this church out and if you feel led to attend regularly,great. If not, fine and God Bless you in your search. If you have a gripe about the churches finances, ask for a meeting with that pastor, or an elder-who's board actually approves the budget. I'm sure they'll be happy to discuss it with you.

"But readers who want a review of a house of worship should be spared your subjective, personal attacks on the staff and somehwat ignorant opinion of it's finances."

I have no dog in this fight until I read that. We recently moved to Raleigh, and this is a review site and I as a reader looking for a church am more than able to discern when someone speaks from personal experience versus stating facts. It always bugs me when the opposing view wants to state their opinion, but have to silence others from saying how they feel. That's what a site like this is about; personal opinions. Then everyone who reads it can judge for themselves.

As for a pastor having a body guard, I'm from Tulsa where a local pastor was hit during a service and his response to the man moved hundreds of people. He never tried to hit him back, prayed for the man, and visitied him in jail. Billy Joe Daughrty was his name and he did not have a body guard. I'm pretty sure Paul and Jesus didnt have personal body guards, and Jesus gave very direct instruction in Mathew 5 about how to respond to an attack. So I don't think there are many men of God that could give me a "good reason" for having one.

Jo B. is right on the finances and the focus on internal spending I believe that Mike Lee is a gifted speaker but he spends over budget like the government (Multiple $100Ks overspend on the Apex campus and needing a new acoustic system in Apex within 18 months of opening the doors to this campus. I know he makes a lot of fun of UNC but perhaps he could use a couple of Kenan-Flagler graduates to teach Hope fiscal responsibility. Mike Lee, however, is a great speaker when it comes to the Bible. He just needs to stick to his guns.